BASEBALL SUMMER LEAGUE REPORT: PART 2

Jun 17, 2011

Sixteen VCU baseball players are currently competing in summer wooden bat leagues across the country. Similar to minor league baseball, leagues are designed to provide an environment for players to showcase their skills using wooden bats, while also enduring long road trips with little sleep, playing in front of undersized crowds in Smalltown USA, and on many occasions, occupying the guest room of a local host family.

But more importantly, professional scouts quickly discover how players respond to the grind of a minor league schedule.

On the heels of a 50-plus-game, three-month regular season, summer league players, which are required to have at least one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, will often endure another 50-plus game slate over a two-month span – a small sampling of what professional baseball is like.

Summer leagues have historically been a successful proving ground for collegiate athletes with aspirations of playing professional baseball.

Current MLB stars Ryan Zimmerman, Justin Verlander and Kevin Youkilis played in the Coastal Plain League, while former VCU standout Brandon Inge, along with Mike Lowell and David Eckstein, competed in the Valley League. Widely regarded as the most prestegious summer league in the nation, the Cap Cod League boasted 236 former players on Major League rosters in 2010.